A time there was, when human baseness in princes and potentates, their vassals doubtless aping the manners of their masters, claimed as their right not only the common element of water, but also that of air! A curious incident related by Jargow, and detailed by Professor Beckmann, as follows, establishes the insolence of upstart men:--“In the end of the fourteenth century, the monks of the celebrated but long since destroyed monastery of Augustines, at Windshiem, in the province of Overyssel, were desirous of erecting a wind-mill not far from Zwoll; but a neighouring lord endeavoured to prevent them, declaring that the wind in that quarter belonged to him. The monks, unwilling to give up their point, had recourse to the Bishop of Utrecht, under whose jurisdiction the province had continued since the tenth century. The bishop, highly incensed against the pretender, who wished to usurp his authority, affirmed, that the wind of the whole province belonged only to him; and, in 1391, gave the convent express permission to build a wind-mill wherever they thought proper.” Without the convenience of human ingenuity heaven had sent the blessing of life in vain; we have, under this impression, therefore, bestowed much time on this article, from a conviction of its vital importance to the necessities of human existence. SAW-MILLS. The invention of the plumb-line and saw, with other useful articles in mechanics, and handicrafts, are usually ascribed to that great--that universal genius--Dædalus: although others give the merit to one Talus, the nephew of Dædalus, and say, that the discovery was made under the following circumstances:--Talus, they tell us, having found the jaw-bone of a snake, cut a piece of wood in two with the teeth; thence, they say, he invented the saw; his maternal uncle and master, they add, was so jealous of this invention, that he murdered the young man; and the mode of the discovery of the murder is accounted for in this manner:--some persons saw Dædalus covering up the grave of his victim, and asked what he was doing? “Oh,” says he, “I am only burying a snake.” How much credit may be due to this relation, we do not take upon ourselves to determine. Pliny, as well as Seneca, were of the former opinion; whilst Diodorus Siculus, and others, hold the latter. The youth is named by some Perdix. However, it appears to rest between these two, no other claimant appearing. Ovid says, it was not the jaw of a snake, but the back-bone of a fish. The former, however, appears to be the most rational opinion as to its origin, as it is conjectured that the vertebræ would not be sufficiently strong, and the joints are too far apart, as well as too large. The Grecian saw is said to have been much the same as that instrument which the moderns now use. This idea is corroborated by an ancient painting discovered in Herculaneum; likewise from an antique representation of this instrument, given by the celebrated Montfaucon.